


Does This Make Us Supervillains?

by Nanerich



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Original Work
Genre: Aromantic, Asexuality, Fake Wedding, Gen, aro/ace relationship, original characters within Marvel Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29963484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanerich/pseuds/Nanerich
Summary: Tanvi and Nate are best friends, ever since they met on an aro-ace-forum.After Tony Stark retweets something about inviting billionaires to your wedding and just getting sent some gift, they decide it would be pretty swell to get some  signed Ironmanfigure or something like that. Little do they know that Anthony Edward Stark is a sucker for wedding cakes.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 2





	1. An Insane Proposal

“Hey, Vi?”

Up until now, Tanvi had her nose in her book, enjoying the umpteenth reread of _The Hobbit_ , but now, with Nate calling out and nudging her legs, she had draped over his, she looked up at her best friend, grinning over.

“No,” she sighed, “whatever you're about to say, ask, or suggest, the answer is no.” With that, she looked back at her book. She knew that grin all too well and it always ended in chaos.

“How can you say no before knowing what I was about to say? Maybe I just want to order pizza?”

“As if,” she scoffed, “last time you looked at me like that we ended up in Peru.”

“And it was a wonderful vacation,” Nate giggled, though he knew just as well that it had been anything but a vacation. Within 36 hours they had flown there, sat in a traffic jam, just about had time to get a sandwich before having to fly back to New York and head straight from the airport to work, and that with about as much sleep as one would imagine after a trip like this.

But if there was one thing Tanvi knew about Nate, it was that once he had one of his crazy ideas he would not relent until she at least heard him out. “Fine,” she groaned, put the book on the coffee table and sat up. “What is your ground-breaking idea that most probably sees us in jail, needing a rabies shot or both?”

“None of that is going to happen this time, I promise. It's super tame, actually.”

Not that Tanvi believed that but her curiosity did reach critical status. “Out with it.”

“Well,” Nate grinned, “I was thinking we should get married.”

Of all the ideas and plans he could have suggested, this was the last one Tanvi expected. Get married. Them. All tries to form a coherent thought failed and all she managed to do was stare at Nate with wide eyes and her jaw somewhere on the ground, waiting for him to say: “just kidding.”

But he said nothing of the sort. Instead, he asked: “You gonna have a heart-attack?”

“Uh... No, but... Wha... Huh?”

“Great, I broke Tanvi,” he jokingly rolled his eyes before grinning at her once more. “Come on, it's not like I suggested killing the president or hunting white rhinos. And, quite frankly, I am starting to take this reaction personally,” he added with a pout.

So he was serious. He was serious about them getting married. Which went against every fibre of their friendship! The two had met on an aro/ace – forum Tanvi had joined, hoping that getting to know people like her would make it easier for her to come to terms with her being so different. Especially in her family. Her folks were not quite hardcore traditionalist Indian, so she would not be forced to get married, yet she felt how different she was treated in comparison to her siblings. She had five of those, three sisters and two brothers, all of which were either married or engaged, except for Noor, the youngest, who was still in college. She had a lovely boyfriend though, and Tanvi would bet quite a bit on the two getting engaged not long after she will have her degree. Bhavesh, the oldest brother, already had two children, Indira was pregnant and Vinay and his wife were trying at the moment. And Tanvi was over the moon for her siblings and loved her nieces to bits and couldn't wait for her family to grow. And of course, Tanvi wanted to be like that as well, start a family, have kids, the whole she-bang. If only to shut up the older part of her relatives. When Priya, who is younger than Tanvi, got engaged, most aunties looked at her with that pitiful look and kept on reassuring her that the right man for her was still out there.

For a while, Tanvi decided she would just pretend to feel all those attraction feelings she was supposed to feel, and then one day she would just feel the right way about men. She probably just needed to learn how to feel love and once she loved someone, she would be sexually attracted to him, too. So she watched romcoms, watched porn, listened to romantic music and podcasts about relationships, love and sex and read everything from romantic novels to scientific research about attraction. Until she came across the terms _asexual_ and _aromantic._ And all of a sudden all of this had a name. Naming it made it not perfectly alright all of a sudden, it did however make dealing with her being so different and, in at least some of her Aunties' eyes, wrong, easier.

And then there were more people like her. There were blogs, there were forums and communities and before she knew it, Tanvi wasn't alone in all that anymore. In one of these forums she met Nate, they got to talking and before long they were best friends. When Tanvi had finished her studies and moved out of student housing, they got a place together, vowing that their friendship was about everything but the traditional values of love. Especially through her friendship with Nate, Tanvi learned how she wasn't worth less than her sisters and brothers, how life isn't all about sex and how there were so many more types of love who were just as important as romantic love.

So why in the name of Oprah Winfrey did he all of a sudden want to get married?

“Explanation?” she eventually managed to ask.

“Tony Stark just retweeted that thing about inviting millionaires and billionaires to your wedding, and they'll just send a gift or something,” he explained and turned his phone over for her to see the tweet. “And I thought getting a letter or even like a little signed Ironmanfigure would be worth getting married for.”

It took a moment for all that to sink in. And Tanvi just burst out laughing. “You want to scam Ironman?”

“I wouldn't exactly call it scam,” he grinned before joining in the laughter. “Ok, fine, yeah, I guess I do want to scam Ironman. Shit, that makes me a supervillain, doesn't it?”

“Not so sure about the _super_ , but...” Tanvi shot back and ducked just in time before getting hit on the head by a pillow. “Ok, but for reals. On the list of your crazy bat-shit ideas, this one isn't actually that bad, I give you this. But neither you nor I have enough money to afford getting married and I am not getting married at city hall, especially not if we're inviting Tony Stark.”

“Is that seriously your only concern?” Now it was Nate looking at Tanvi with wide eyes and his jaw on the ground. “I figured we'd discuss this for like another hour before you tell me I'm insane and we forget about it.”

“Oh, you're definitely insane,” she agreed. “Then again, it is an idea that won't see us incarcerated, stuck in another country or with any broken limbs, and at least that is enough for me to properly look at your proposal. Oh, by the way, proposal,” she added, raising her eyebrow and shooting him a smirk, “until you go down on a knee with a pretty ring, don't even think I'll say yes.”

“Duly noted,” he nodded and a grin spread from ear to ear again. “But you're right. Neither of us can afford a proper wedding, and please don't take it personal, but I do not want to involve your parents.”

“None taken, totally agree with you there. But hey,” she giggled, “we could just ask Tony Stark if he would pay for the wedding.”

“Now who's scamming Ironman?” Nate giggled along. “But, I mean, he'd never show up anyways, so we can just say we're getting married and get that signed action figure without actually having to go through all that.”

“Huh.” A deep breath later, Tanvi looked up at Nate: “Ok, I guess you can call yourself a super-villain.”

“Thank you. But come on, it's not like it would hurt him; he probably won't even know. I assume someone like Tony Stark has people doing that sort of thing for him.”

As little as Tanvi would like to admit it, Nate made sense. Ugh, what the hell. “Alright, let's do it. Let's get married.”


	2. Not Again

“God, not again.”

Pepper's groaning had Tony look up from his phone. “Not again what?”

“You got another wedding invitation.”

“Oh, fun!” Tony squealed and grabbed the envelope.

“I never should have let you retweet that _invite billionaires to your wedding-thing,”_ Happy sighed, but Tony didn't really pay his stressed-out head of security too much attention, en contraire to the adorable picture of the happy couple grinning at him. Tanvi and Nate, they were called, getting married on a farm upstate. It all looked rather quaint and Tony could only smile. “Ah, young love.” 01.05. “Hey FRI, do I have any appointments on the first of May?”

“Tony, you're not going to that wedding,” Pepper and Happy made clear in unison.

“You have no appointments on that day,” FRIDAY reported and instantly a wide grin spread over Tony's face.

“No,” Pepper shook her head, before he could even say anything.

“Pep, look at this lovely farm! And I'm free that day and there'll be music, and dancing, and so much romance, and wedding cake. Wedding cake, Pepper!” he repeated with extra emphasis.

“Tony, if you go to that wedding, that'll be a security nightmare,” Happy tried, “please don't do that to me.”

“But wedding cake!” Tony repeated again. “Besides, I'm literally Earth's best defender, I think I can look after myself. Pep, it says ‘Plus One’. We could have a romantic day at a beautifully quaint upstate farm...” Tony grabbed her hand and shot her his best heart-eyes. “Don't tell me you wouldn't enjoy that.”

“Of course I would,” she smiled back and squeezed his hand. “I agree with Happy, though.”

“WHA...” He pulled his hand out of hers and clutched his chest. “You don't want to spend a romantic day with me at some strangers wedding? Pepper, you don't seem to understand,” he tried again. “It will be me, in my best suit, romantic atmosphere and wedding cake.”

“As wonderful as that sounds, I'm still saying no. I'm sure those two will be just as happy when you send them a letter, a nice gift or something like that.”

“No,” Tony decided, “I want cake, I will go to that wedding. And if you don't want to come with me, I'll just take Rhodey. I'm sure he would love spending a romantic day with me


	3. Oh No

“VI! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!”

Nate's loud crying woke her up and more groggily than anything else Tanvi staggered out of her room into the living room.

“What?” she grumbled, rubbing her eyes, trying to wake up at least a little bit.

“Tony Stark RSVPed yes,” he gulped and in an instant, Tanvi was wide awake.

“What?”

“Tony Stark is coming to our wedding. Our non-existent, made-up, fake wedding.” Even though Nate was the poster boy for being white, he got even paler and handed the letter out to Tanvi. Besides the invitation card with the _Plus One_ Box ticked, there was a short letter.

*

_Dear Tanvi, dear Nate,_

_first of all, congratulations! I'm very happy for the two of you, that you have found each other and I already wish you all the best for your life together. I'm also happy to be invited, thank you very much for that! I am already looking forward to your party (and, if I'm being honest, your wedding cake; I'm a bit of a sucker for baked goods – don't tell the tabloids...)._

_My head of security is unfortunately not as happy about me attending, so to keep him from having a coronary, there are a few ground rules. Don't tell anyone. As tempting as it might be to show off with your amazing wedding guest, it's apparently a security risk otherwise. I might also not be there for too long, or come later, so don't be insulted if I suddenly go, or if I am late or something like that, because that is, once more, for security reasons. (Yes, my head of security is rather overeager and is currently standing behind me, looking over my shoulders to make sure I tell you all this). But don't worry, you're in not any kind of responsibility. Except for if the cake sucks. That I will blame on you._

_All the best,_

_Tony Stark_

_*_

“Ok, very funny, Nate.” Tanvi rolled her eyes at him. “Ha ha.”

“Tanvi, I… I didn’t…” he stammered. “I didn’t write that.”

“Of course you didn’t.”

Tanvi held the stare. Five more seconds and Nate would burst out laughing. And three, two one… But there was no change in reaction. Nate’s skin was still as pale as snow, his brown eyes wide in alarm, looking at her like a deer in headlights. Not a trace of humour, just sheer panic.

“It’s really not funny anymore,” Tanvi tried again, as the horror crept in that this was really Tony Stark’s answer. “Please, just…”

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh no, no, no.

Somewhat distantly Tanvi realized her letting go of the letter and falling on the couch. Tony Stark would actually come to a wedding that didn’t exist, for a couple that didn’t get married, hell, they weren’t even dating!

“Why did you have to suggest we scam Ironman? Why couldn’t you have talked me into skydiving off the Eiffel Tower or break into a bank?” What Tanvi would have liked to scream at Nate was not much more than a breathy sigh.

“You’re so right, I’m so sorry, I really am.” He barely looked at her as he got up and slowly made for the door. “I need… I just need to… Sorry.”

And before Tanvi knew what to say, the door closed behind Nate, leaving her alone in the apartment with nothing but the letter from Tony Stark and that horrible, horrible feeling that this time they really fucked up.


	4. Leave A Message After The Tone

OK, I think I’m a little better now, we should probably talk about what to do next

10.34

**Tanvi**

.

Where’d you go?

10.35

**Tanvi**

.

You alright?

10.39

**Tanvi**

.

Seriously, are you ok?

11.17

**Tanvi**

.

I’m getting worried

11.26

**Tanvi**

.

Just answer me, please!

11.26

**Tanvi**

.

Nathaniel Alexander McAllister, don’t you dare ignoring me!!!

12.01

**Tanvi**

.

If I hear your damn voicemail one more time I will go berserk

12.09

**Tanvi**

.

No, I will not leave a message after the tone!

12.11

**Tanvi**

.

Well, let’s do a tally count: 1 ½ hours, 8 messages and 17 missed calls should be on your phone right now. You want any more? Just keep on ignoring me, and I’ll keep blowing up your phone

12.14

**Tanvi**

.

Right, there’s only one thing left to do: I’m gonna eat all the chocolate ice cream and continue watching Drag Race without you

12.21

**Tanvi**

.

Look, I know this whole thing is a shock and absolutely terrifying and we def fucked up big time but we can figure this out

12.44

**Tanvi**

.

Just come home and we can talk about it

12.44

**Tanvi**

.

at least give me a life sign or I’ll call your mum

12.45

**Tanvi**

.

Don’t call my mum

13.03

**Nate**

.

It’s alive!

13.03

**Tanvi**

.

Seriously, you alright though?

13.04

**Tanvi**

.

I’m fine

13.06

**Nate**

.

Just gimme some time, alright?

13.06

**Nate**

.

Alright

13.08

**Tanvi**

.

I’ll be here if you need me

13.09

**Tanvi**

.

Thanks <3

13.10

**Nate**


End file.
